Parkside Academy
Greengate Street, BARROW-in-FURNESS, LA13 9BY
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 2 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- FURNESS EDUCATION TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mr Anthony Costa
- Nursery provision
- Has Nursery Classes
- Sponsor
- Furness Education Trust
- Constituency
- Barrow and Furness
- Setting
- Urban: Further from a major town or city
- Capacity
- 300
- Pupils on roll
- 272
- URN
- 142249
- Local authority
- Westmorland and Furness
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01229828348
About this school
Parkside Academy is a primary academy in Barrow-in-Furness. It teaches children aged 2 to 11 and has 272 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Parkside Academy, and its latest judgement is set out below. Where the Department for Education has published them, its results and pupil characteristics appear below. Numbers and a report only go so far, so visit in person before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Ofsted no longer gives schools a single overall grade. Each area of the school's work is graded on a five-point scale, and safeguarding is judged separately.
- Inclusion
- Strong standard
- Curriculum and teaching
- Expected standard
- Achievement
- Expected standard
- Attendance and behaviour
- Strong standard
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Strong standard
- Leadership and governance
- Expected standard
- Early years
- Strong standard
- Safeguarding
- Met
Exam results
Key stage 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 39 | 34 | 28 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 59% | 56% | 71% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 8% | 6% | 7% |
| Expected standard in reading | 64% | 65% | 79% |
| Expected standard in maths | 77% | 71% | 75% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 69% | 82% | 86% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 104.0 | 103.0 | 105.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 105.0 | 103.0 | 105.0 |
| Reading progress | -1.80 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -1.10 | - | - |
| Maths progress | +0.10 | - | - |
Progress measures ended nationally after the 2022/23 school year, when the key stage 1 assessments they were based on were stopped. Blank progress figures in later years are not missing school data.
Trends over time
How Parkside Academy has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | Westmorland and Furness average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 59% | 60.6% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 56% | 57% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 71% | 56.5% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 3.6% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 4% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 4.3% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 296 |
| 2023/24 | 297 |
| 2024/25 | 281 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Parkside Academy compares
Parkside Academy ranked 26th of 98 primary schools in Westmorland and Furness for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 68% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 79% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 71% | 4.3% | 42% | 272 | — |
| Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School, Barrow | 43% | 7.2% | 39.7% | 202 | 0.3 miles |
| Greengate Junior School | 60% | 5.6% | 47.2% | 161 | 0.4 miles |
| Cambridge Primary School | 52% | 6.3% | 63.4% | 230 | 0.4 miles |
| Ramsden Infant School | — | 4.6% | 34.7% | 80 | 0.4 miles |
| St George's CofE School | 50% | 6.5% | 51.8% | 226 | 0.5 miles |
Results reflect each school's cohort as much as its teaching, and free school meals share is context, not a judgement. Small gaps between neighbouring schools are rarely meaningful on their own.
Inspection history
-
Graded inspection report20 January 2026
- 19 October 2021
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 42.03%
- English as an additional language
- 1.4%
- Overall absence
- 4.26%
- Persistent absence
- 10.06%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School, Barrow0.3 miles
Primary · Barrow-in-Furness
-
Greengate Junior School0.4 miles
Primary · Barrow-in-Furness
-
Cambridge Primary School0.4 miles
Primary · Barrow-in-Furness
-
Ramsden Infant School0.4 miles
Primary · Barrow-in-Furness
-
St George's CofE School0.5 miles
Primary · Barrow-in-Furness
Other schools in Barrow-in-Furness
Parkside Academy ranks 2nd of the 20 ranked primary schools in Barrow-in-Furness.
- Barrow Island Community Primary School Primary
- Brisbane Park Infant School Primary
- Cambridge Primary School Primary
- Greengate Junior School Primary
- Holy Family Catholic Primary School Primary
- Newbarns Primary and Nursery School Primary
- Newton Village Academy Primary
- Ormsgill Nursery and Primary School Primary
- Ramsden Infant School Primary
- Roose School Primary
- Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School, Barrow Primary
- South Walney Infant and Nursery School Primary
Common questions
- What ages does Parkside Academy teach?
- Parkside Academy teaches children aged 2 to 11. It is a primary school in Barrow-in-Furness.
- Who is the headteacher of Parkside Academy?
- The headteacher of Parkside Academy is Mr Anthony Costa, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Parkside Academy been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Parkside Academy, and its latest judgement is set out in the inspection section on this page, with the framework and the date it was made.
- How many pupils are at Parkside Academy?
- Parkside Academy has 272 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 2 to 11.
- Is Parkside Academy full?
- Parkside Academy has capacity for 300 pupils and 272 on roll (91%), so it has space against its published capacity. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is Parkside Academy a faith school?
- No. Parkside Academy has no designated religious character.
- Does Parkside Academy have a nursery?
- Yes. The schools register records Parkside Academy as having nursery classes.
- Is Parkside Academy part of an academy trust?
- Parkside Academy is part of FURNESS EDUCATION TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Parkside Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 59% in 2022/23 and 71% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Parkside Academy compare with other schools in Westmorland and Furness?
- Parkside Academy ranked 26th of 98 primary schools in Westmorland and Furness for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 68% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 79% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Parkside Academy's absence rate?
- Parkside Academy's overall absence rate is 4.3% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Parkside Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Parkside Academy's key stage results are shown in the results section on this page, with the last three years so you can see the trend rather than a single year.
School details come from the Department for Education's Get Information About Schools register. Inspection outcomes come from Ofsted, and exam results from the Department for Education's school performance service. This page was last updated on 2 July 2026.